Greece

Athens is a mesmerising mix of old, new and positively ancient. From the moment I left Zakynthos, I was excited about my first visit to one of the world’s most famous cities. My unexpected six weeks in the Ionian Sea had been a welcome island-hopping adventure, but I was craving city life again. Who knows […]

Beaches, Boats and Booze. Zakynthos, also known as Zante, is one of Greece’s most famous islands and popular the world over with holiday makers searching for any combination of those three things. For one island, it’s got quite a lot going on and away from the resorts, the trinket sellers and the 24 hour party […]

I started to read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin on the ferry to Kefalonia. I know, I know, you may roll your eyes if you like. I was even surprised to find myself enjoying it. Kefalonia was a lesson in travel style. I essentially had three different holidays on the Island. All were vastly different and taught me […]

Lefkada (Lefkas) caught me by surprise. My trip there was really an after-thought. Following my few weeks on Corfu, I had been invited to stay in Kefalonia. With a few days to spare between the Islands, I whipped out a map to figure out my itinerary. There, perfectly placed between the two Islands was an […]

Corfu smells like summer. I arrived on a Friday evening, just in time for the restaurants lining Ipsos Beach to start filling up. Ipsos was to be my home for the next few weeks. The waft of delicious food mingled with salty beach scents. I don’t know if you can smell a sunset, but if […]

Greece. It’s the land that gave us democracy and philosophy; a land of literature and legend; a land of myth and history. It’s got one of the most iconic and beautiful coastlines on the planet, famed archaeological sites and the nicest people you could hope to meet. And if all that wasn’t enough, those amazing […]

There’s no such thing as an unskilled volunteer. It seems like an appropriate discussion for my final volunteering post. In line with the five previous posts in the ‘Volunteering with Refugees’ series, I had hoped to write my last post about the Get Shit Done Team, who carry out essential construction work in Refugee Camps […]

I met the Mobile Info Team on my first day volunteering in Northern Greece and was instantly impressed. I was helping out with Echo Mobile Library at Diavata refugee camp when a car pulled up and out clambered a team of smiley faces. I guess the smiles help in their work. The Mobile Info Team […]

Just how do you spend €20,000 a month on vegetables? Simple. You manage The Food Project working with refugees in Thessaloniki. That figure shoots quickly up to €70,000 once you add in the dried food that the project also supply. The initiative started as a means of addressing some of the nutritional deficiencies of the […]

Before I ever arrived in Greece, I knew I wanted to volunteer with the Echo Mobile Library. I’d come across them on Facebook and instantly loved the idea of a mobile library visiting the refugee camps of Northern Greece. I ended up spending two weeks helping out, teaching English classes and learning about education services […]